A Window To The Past
by lilyfan06
Summary: Remus and a mysterious woman from his past show Harry memories of his parents. LEJP. Evendtual DH spoilers! If you read, please review! Rated T just to be safe.
1. Escape From Privet Drive

Summary: Remus and a mysterious woman from his past show Harry memories of his parents. LE/JP. HBP spoiler alert! If you read, please review!

A/N: Hello everyone! I posted a few chapters of this right before HBP was released, but I decided to take it down and repost it now. If you have read the first one, this is way different except for one of the memories. Hope you like it and don't forget to review.

A Window To The Past

Chapter One

Escape From Privet Drive

Sixteen year old Harry Potter sat on the edge of his bed as he gazed out of his bedroom window at Number Four, Privet Drive, watching the sun set. His small room was filled scattered with days old papers with headings like "The Life and Death of Albus Dumbledore", "Death Eaters at Hogwarts", and "The Fate of Hogwarts Unsure". He was still reeling from the event of the past school year, which had only ended two weeks ago. Harry had still not gotten over the death of his godfather, Sirius, and now the death of Albus Dumbledore – which occurred in front of his own eyes – weighed heavily on him. But what had shocked Harry most of all was who had killed Albus Dumbledore: _Snape_. Just thinking about his former professor made Harry want to break something – particularly Snape's hooked nose. He still found it hard to believe that Snape, who Dumbledore had fully trusted, had murdered him. And while Harry had never trusted Snape, he never knew that even he could sink so low.

Ever since Harry had returned to Privet Drive, for what was hopefully the last time, he had been avoiding the Dursley's as much as possible, and everyone in the house was just fine with the arrangements. Harry had even seen his Uncle Vernon smile – no, on second thought, smirk – at Harry once or twice and Harry knew exactly why: he knew that his uncle was counting down the days until Harry's seventeenth birthday when he could leave the Dursley's once and for all.

Then he saw them – two darkly cloaked figures, with their hoods pulled over their heads, were approaching Number Four. Harry immediately jumped off of his bed, grabbed his wand, and hurried toward the window to get a better look at the hooded figures. They couldn't possibly be Death Eaters, could they?

Then, as they approached the end of the drive, the taller of the two people lowered his hood. Harry's grip on his wand loosened and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was Remus Lupin. But Harry's relief turned to confusion. Why would Lupin be here? And who was with him? Could be Tonks?

As though the other figure had somehow read Harry's mind, she lowered her hood. At first, Harry thought that it could be Tonks, just in one of her many disguises. But in all of Tonks' disguises, she still looked like herself – and this woman looked nothing like Tonks. This woman was slightly taller, Harry realized as he leaned closer to the window, with light brown, shoulder length hair.

By now, they had reached the door of the house. Harry craned his neck so he could still see Lupin and the unknown woman. Lupin was within reach of the door, but the woman was standing a few steps back, looking slightly nervous. Lupin, apparently noticing that she was not next to him, turned around, walked to where she was standing, took her hands in his, and said something. Looking at the ground, the woman nodded and, together, they approached the door.

Harry heard the doorbell sound through the house. He scrambled out of his room and down the stairs, hoping to get to the door before Aunt Petunia – or worse, Uncle Vernon – answered the door. But before Harry could even get half way down the stairs, Aunt Petunia came bustling out of the living room and opened the door. "Can I help you?" she asked the two apparent strangers.

"Yes, we're here to talk to Harry." said Lupin.

Aunt Petunia tensed. "And who are you?"

"This is Remus Lupin, and I'm Acelin Roberts." the woman said calmly.

Aunt Petunia looked as though she was looking at a ghost. "Acelin," she said in a terrified whisper.

Acelin gave a small laugh. "And here I was thinking that you wouldn't remember me, Petunia."

Harry was extremely confused by this. How could Aunt Petunia, who hated magic, know this witch?

"Harry! Get down here!" Aunt Petunia called.

Harry walked down the stairs, feeling uncomfortable considering everyone was watching him.

"Hello, Harry," Lupin said as he shook Harry's hand. "This is Acelin Roberts," he said, gesturing for her to come forward.

She and Harry had a brief introduction before Uncle Vernon came into the room. He looked from the two strangers talking with Harry, and to his wife before he asked, rather stiffly, "And who is this, Petunia?"

But it wasn't Aunt Petunia that answered; it was Acelin.

"Well, Vernon, I'm Acelin and this is Remus and as long as Harry consents, we want to take him away from here – for good."

Harry turned to Lupin. "Are you serious?" he asked excitedly.

"Yes," said Lupin. "There is a catch, however...it would involved going to Grimmauld Place for a few days...of course, Ron and Hermione will be there tonight as well.

"How do you know me? Have we met before?" Vernon interrupted as he stared at Acelin.

"No," she smiled, "But Lily told me all about you."

Harry did a double take. This woman had known his mother?

"Well, Harry, why don't you go ahead and pack your trunk. I'll help you." said Lupin.

Harry and Lupin turned went up to Harry's room while Acelin stayed with the Dursleys.

"I know that you two were never close with his parents," Acelin said as she turned to Vernon and Petunia, "but he looks just like his father, James. Except his eyes, the only thing he's inherited from Lily."

The Dursleys and Acelin stayed in a awkward silence until Harry and Lupin came back down the stairs. Harry bid goodbye to the Dursleys for what he knew was the last time while Lupin made his trunk feather light. _Good riddance, _Harry thought as he, Lupin, and Acelin walked to the end of the drive.

"How are we getting to Grimmauld Place?" Harry asked.

"We're taking the Knight Bus," replied Acelin, though Harry noticed a tone of bitterness in her voice.

Lupin flung out his wand arm and, almost instantly, the triple-decker, violently purple bus. Lupin loaded Harry's trunk on to the bus. As soon as Harry took one step on the Knight Bus, Harry heard a familiar voice.

"Well look oo it is, Ern, it's Arry Potter, it is."

"Hi, Stan," he replied as he, Lupin, and Acelin made their way to the back of the bus. Once they sat down, Harry asked, "When did they let Stan out?"

"Just last week," Lupin said as they sat down in a group of chairs. But as soon as they sat down, the bus gave a violent leap. Harry and Lupin managed to hold on, but Acelin tumbled out of her chair and landed with a nasty fall on the floor.

"You okay, Ace?" asked Lupin with laughter in his voice.

She managed to climb back on to the chair, glaring at Lupin at the while. "That is not very funny, Remus. You know how much I hate this bus, and you _still _suggested it."

"Yes, but luckily ours is the next stop." said Lupin, still smiling.

Yet again, their was another violent lurch, but this time, Acelin managed not to fly out of her chair. Harry looked out of the window to see that they had arrived at Grimmauld Place. Lupin, Acelin, and Harry all got off the bus, Lupin levitating Harry's trunk.

They entered Number Twelve very quietly, hoping not to disturb the portrait of Mrs. Black. Harry felt a terrible pang in his stomach as reality crashed down on him: Sirius was not here, nor would he ever be here again.

"Let's get you settled, Harry." said Lupin as he led the way to Harry's room. Lupin nodded at Acelin, who went down stairs into the kitchen.

Lupin led the way to the room that Harry had shared with Ron two summers ago.

"Hey, Harry," said Ron as Harry and Ron entered the room. Hermione was sitting next to him.

"Hey guys. Thanks a lot," he added to Lupin.

"No problem, Harry. I'll see you all later,"

"So how have you been Harry?" asked Hermione.

"Good. You?"

"Same. Ron said that Bill and Fleur are getting married in two weeks,"

Harry smiled. "How's your Mum taking it?"

"A lot better than she was, since, well...but she's kinda freaking out now. I was glad to get away." Harry and Hermione laughed. Harry easily recalled how Mrs. Weasley was very against the idea of her eldest son marrying Fleur, until Bill had been attacked and Mrs. Weasley had witnessed how much Fleur cared about him.

"Let's go into the kitchen and get something to eat." said Ron.

Hermione rolled her eyes as they made their way down to the kitchen. Just as Ron was about to push open the door, they heard a glass being put – almost slammed – down on table. Hermione flung her arm out to stop them and put her finger to her lips in a _be quiet _motion.

"Are you alright?" they heard Remus say.

"I honestly don't know," said Acelin, though only Harry knew her name. "It's almost spooky how much they look alike. But I guess really shouldn't be surprised...from the minute Harry was born, he looked exactly like James."

Harry's breath caught in his chest.

"I miss them so much, Remus,"

"I do too, Ace,"

"Can you believe they've been gone for nearly sixteen years?"

"I know. Every time I see those kids I feel like an old man."

Acelin laughed. "But I bet Tonks makes you feel younger."

They could hear Remus laughing with her. "I'm sorry," Acelin continued, still giggling. "But I haven't had time to talk to you outside of Order meetings since I came back, and I couldn't help myself."

"It's alright – I've been ready for it,"

"In all seriousness, though, I like Tonks. In a weird way, she kind of reminds me of Lily; independent, spirited, outgoing–"

"– won't take 'no' for an answer." Remus cut her off as they began to laugh again. "And speaking of out dear Lily..."

"It's all ready." Acelin said, a hint of sadness in her voice. "I put it in the library...and all of the memories were already in chronological order. Are we going to give it to Harry in the morning?"

"Yeah...there's really no point in him seeing it now, as its getting late. But we'll give it to him first thing in the morning. Did you put any of your own in?"

"Just two...it was right after Harry was born...and when I first got it..."

Hermione turned to look at Harry, but he wasn't there, though she had a good idea where he might be. She grabbed Ron's hand and dragged him upstairs to the library. They entered the nearly pitch black room, the only light was an odd, silver–white light, give the room a slightly eerie glow.

And there was Harry, standing next to the Pensieve.

"Harry?" Hermione said cautiously.

He didn't reply.

"Harry, we'll just go upstairs–"

"No," he said in a slightly hoarse voice. "Can–can you guys come with me?"

Ron and Hermione exchanged nervous glances before Ron replied, "Sure, mate, we'll go with you."

They stood directly behind Harry as he fell into the Pensieve, Ron and Hermione right behind him.


	2. A Fast Embrace

A/N: First off, thanks to everyone that reviewed. And for any of you that read my other two stories (sorry for the plug, I couldn't help it) I've jsut started my PN (practical nurse) classes, so my updates will be less often. But, I'm writing on my breaks and lunch, so we'll see what happens. Anyway, enough rambling - on with chapter 2!

A Fast Embrace

When the Pensieve stopped swirling, Harry found himself at the top of the Marble Staircase at Hogwarts, with Ron and Hermione right next to him. He knew this was his mother's memory, but where was she?

And then they saw her; Lily was storming up the stairs in what appeared to be a raging temper. Her dazzling green eyes, identical to Harry's, were fill with a fire that plainly told everyone to back off, and her billowing dark red hair made it seem as though she was on fire. She looked about the same age as she did the last time Harry had seen her in a Pensieve.

As she reached the top of the stairs, Harry heard a another girl call out to her. "Lily! Lily, come back here!"

They turned to see who it was, and Harry was slightly surprised to see that it was Acelin, followed closely by a girl with blonde hair that looked oddly familiar to Harry, running up the stairs. It was then that Harry realized that Ron and Hermione had no idea who Acelin was.

"By the way," Harry said as he turned to Ron and Hermione. "The girl with the dark hair was the one we heard talking to Lupin. They were the ones who brought me to Grimmauld Place." A look of understanding dawned on Ron's face and Hermione nodded as though she already knew. How she could have possibly known was beyond Harry, but then again, there was a reason why she was the brightest witch their age.

Finally, the girls caught up with Lily. "What was that all about?" asked Acelin.

"What d'you mean?" said Lily, who looked as though she were headed to Gryffindor Tower.

"You know very well what she means?" said the blonde girl. "You, the Marauders, the yelling. Ring any bells?"

Lily didn't respond. That was when it hit Harry...the memory that they were witnessing now must have happened right after Snape's memory that Harry had seen over a year ago.

As they followed the three girls through the castle, Harry said, "Do you guys really want to know why Snape stopped giving me Occlumency lessons?"

Hermione looked at him sharply. "You said that Snape thought you had the basics and that you could carry on by yourself." she said accusingly.

"Not exactly." Harry told Ron and Hermione exactly what he had seen in Snape's memory. Ron looked a little taken aback while Hermione looked thoughtful.

"So that's why you wanted to talk to Sirius afterwards. To talk to him about what you had seen?"

Harry nodded.

By now, the three girls were had reached the Fat Lady. Lily hurriedly gave the password and they scrambled thought the portrait hole. Lily glance around the half filled common room before crossing to sit in one of the armchairs by the fireplace so that her back was to the portrait hole. She put her elbows on her knees and rubbed her temples as her friends sat opposite her.

They were silent for a few minutes before Lily muttered, "Why is he always doing that?"

Hermione tried to suppress a laugh.

"Are you talking about the fact that he was picking on Snape or the fact that he was hitting on you?"

"Both," she replied as she looked at her friends. "And is it just me or did he look like a complete _idiot_ when he was playing with that Snitch?"

Acelin and the blonde took one look at each other before they started to laugh – Hermione with them.

"What's so funny?" asked Lily, looking at her friends disbelievingly. His mother had taken the words right out of Harry's mouth – he was about to ask Hermione the same.

"Don't you see what he's trying to do?" asked Acelin

"No,"

"Oh, isn't obvious, Lil? He's just trying to impress you," said the blonde as Acelin nodded in agreement.

"Come off it, Dorcas, he was just showing off – as usual." said Lily darkly.

With a pang in his gut, Harry realized why this blonde girl – Dorcas, his mother said – looked so familiar. She had been in the photograph of the Order of the Phoenix that Moody had showed him two summers ago. He had said that she was murdered by Voldemort.

"Let's go to our dorm and finish this," said Acelin quietly, looking towards the portrait hole. Lily, along with the unseen trio, turned to see the fifteen year old versions of James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew come into the common room. Ron looked from the fifteen year old James, to Harry, and back.

"You _do _look like your dad, mate."

Harry didn't know what to say, so he just smiled slightly as they continued to watch. He noticed that his parents make eye contact very briefly before Lily abruptly stood up and made her way to the spiral staircase that Harry knew led to the girls' dormitories.

They saw James take long strides to catch up with Lily, and when he finally did, Lily was on the second stair of the girls' staircase, he grabbed her wrist and turned her around to face him.

"Evans–"

"I don't want to talk to you, Potter," she cut him off as she wrenched her arm out of his grasp.

"Oh, c'mon Evans, why are you being so difficult?" James asked.

"Me! You're the one who can't take the bloody hint!"

She turned to leave, but James stepped onto the spiral staircase. Just as Harry knew it would, the staircase turned into a stone slide. This didn't have much of an effect on James as he was only on the first stair. But Lily, who by now was on the fifth stair, lost her balance and nearly tumbled down the flight of stairs. But, at the last second, James caught her as she clung onto the front of his robes.

For a second, it looked as though Lily and James had both forgotten about their argument that occurred earlier that day. They were looking deep into each other's eyes, their faces mere inches apart.

But the moment was short lived. Lily shook her head slightly and pushed a slightly smirking James away from her.

"Don't look so pleased with yourself, Potter," said Lily coldly before she nearly ran up the spiral staircase.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed Lily to her dorm. She threw herself onto her bed, pulled a pillow over her head and screamed, though it was muffled.

Harry and Ron looked very confused. Hermione rolled her eyes and explained, "Screaming into a pillow is great for stress relief."

After she had finished her venting, Acelin and Dorcas came into the dormitory and sat on the edge of Lily's bed. Suddenly, Lily sat up, letting the pillow fall into her lap.

"What is the matter with him?" Lily said in exasperation. "Can't he see that I don't like him?"

"I wouldn't be too hard on him, Lil. He really does like you." said Dorcas quietly.

"Oh c'mon, don't make me feel bad." said Lily.

"Let's talk about something else," said Acelin. "Have you heard from your parents lately?"

"Oh, yes!" said Lily, sounding falsely enthusiastic. "I got a letter from my mum this morning. She says that Petunia's complete moron of a boyfriend proposed to her last night, so they'll be getting married. Isn't that wonderful!"

Harry could help but laugh at his mother's attitude towards his uncle.

"You must be joking!" said Acelin.

"I wish I was," said Lily sadly. "And Mum didn't come out and say it, but she hinted that she wants me to be one of the bridesmaids."

"Oh, and I'm sure that'll go over real great with your sister." Dorcas said sarcastically.

Lily snorted. "Petunia and I haven't had a civil conversation in nearly six years. I'll be lucky to even be invited. I'm sorry, did I say lucky? I mean I'll be unlucky if I'm invited."

"So when is this big wedding going to happen?" asked Acelin.

"Mum said that Petunia wants to have a 'long engagement' so I have no idea." Lily was silent for a few before she continued. "You guys have to promise me something."

"What?" asked both Acelin and Dorcas.

"One or both of you guys have to come with me when Petunia get married to make sure I don't do something stupid."

"Like what?" Dorcas asked.

"Like start throwing hexes at my darling sister in front of her Muggle guests the first time she calls me a freak."

"We promise," Dorcas replied and Acelin nodded.

"But," said Acelin, a smile creeping on her face, "I'm sure that if you did want to hex your sister, you could always ask James for some good ones."

Lily hit Acelin upside the head with her pillow before the three girls started laughing uncontrollably just as the memory started to fade.


	3. Seventh Year, New Beginnings

Seventh Year

As the next memory stopped swirling, Harry, Ron, and Hermione found themselves on the Hogwarts Express. The only person in the hall was Lily, with a badge that read 'Head Girl' gleaming proudly on the front of her robes. So, she had to be seventeen. Hermione grinned her approval when she saw the badge. But Lily looked different; her dark red hair was longer than in the previous memory. She was also taller, around Harry's own height. She was pulling her trunk, but stopped when she came to a door that said 'Prefects' on it.

When she entered the compartment, Harry was surprised to see how big it was. In the center was a long table that could easily seat all of the prefects. Lily put her truck in the corner of the compartment and sat at the head of the table. There was another chair next to her, who Harry assumed was for the Head Boy. Lily picked up an envelop that was lying on the table in front of her. After a few minutes of reading, the compartment door opened. She looked up to see who it was, and even the unseen group was surprised to see James walk through the door.

"Are you kidding me?" Lily said as she stared at James' Head Boy badge.

"Believe me, I'm was as shocked as you are." he replied.

Lily blinked at him. "Um, Dumbledore sent us this," she gestured to the letter in her hand. "Basically, he says that he has decided to try something new this year. Because we're going to be working so closely this year, he is letting us use the Head Dormitories. We'll have our own common room and our own bathrooms. We'll also set up the patrolling schedule for us and the prefects, but we can do that tomorrow. We also pick the Hogsmeade weekends, but have to run them by Dumbledore first."

James smiled. "So it looks like we'll be seeing a lot of each other, roomie." Lily rolled her eyes. "So, who were you expecting to get Head Boy?"

"I don't know – I was just hoping it wasn't going to be Malfoy." Harry was taken aback; he hadn't known that Lucius Malfoy had been in the same year as his parents.

Just then, the prefects began to come in as the train began to leave Platform 9 3/4. Most of the prefects congratulated Lily and James on being appointed Head Girl and Boy. Finally, every chair except one was filled. They didn't have any trouble picking out Lucius Malfoy from the group. His son had inherited sleek blonde hair and gave Lily a look that imitated the way Draco looked down on Hermione.

Lily looked at the empty seat at the table for a moment before she turned to James and asked, "Where's Remus?"

"Wh – oh, his, um, Mum's in St. Mungo's. He's coming on the Knight Bus tomorrow morning."

"That's terrible. What's wrong with her?" Lily seemed very concerned.

James, however, looked like he was doing some quick thinking. "Dragon Pox, I think he said."

Together, Lily and James discussed patrol duties and possibilities for Hogsmeade weekends. They finished by saying that the prefects should patrol the train and dismissed them.

Once Lily sat down, she gave a big sigh.

"Nervous?" James asked.

She laughed. "A bit," she replied as she leaned back in her chair. "So, how's your summer been?"

"Pretty good. Sirius moved out, so it's actually been really quiet."

"I didn't know he lived with your family."

"Yeah. He ran away from home when he was sixteen."

"Why?"

James looked at her uncertainly, as though wondering if he should tell her or not. "Well," he began, "his whole family's kind of into the Dark Arts and Sirius has always been against them. But two summers ago, he got into a huge row with his parents and took off. Since he spent most of his time at my place anyway, my Mum and Dad just let him move in. Come to think of it, they didn't have much choice – it was more along the lines of me saying 'Sirius is moving in' and they said 'okay'."

"Isn't his brother in school?"

"Regulus? Yeah, he's a year younger than us – but as far as I know – they haven't spoken since he left."

"I can understand that," Lily said sadly. When James gave her a questioning look, she gave a small laugh and continued, "The only time my sister and I talk is if we're yelling at each other." Harry felt his stomach jolt at the mention of his aunt.

"I didn't know you had a sister,"

Lily nodded. "She's a few years older than me. We actually used to be really close, but ever since I got my Hogwarts letter, she's called me a freak. I really used to bother me, but the summer after our fourth year, I'd had enough. We got into a huge fight and I got so angry I shattered our bay window – without magic. And Petunia's been terrified of me ever since."

Trying, and failing, to be serious, James said, "You need to control that red-head temper of yours."

Lily laughed at the scene faded. Harry was filled with relief – considering what he had seen in Snape's memory, it was comforting to know to know that his parents could carry on a civilized conversation.

For the next memory, they found themselves in one of the many corridors of Hogwarts, with James and Lily walking side by side.

"So, you've got to tell me what you did to impress Dumbledore enough to make you Head Boy." Lily said as she playfully hit his arm.

He laughed, "I honestly don't know – I can only guess."

"Then what's your guess?"

"Last spring, I saved a student's life,"

"Who?"

"Severus Snape," he said quietly. Lily stopped in her tracks and stared.

James, who was a few steps further down the hall before he noticed that Lily was no longer with him, turned around.

"But you hate him," she said, sounding confused.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that I could let him die when there was something I could do about it."

Lily blinked at him before she began walking again.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Well," James said, not quite looking her in the eye, "it's kinda complicated." he said lamely as he picked up his pace.

"So that must have been when your dad saved Snape from Lupin, and Snape thought they were all in on it." Hermione said.

"Must have been," Harry replied.

Lily didn't press the matter any further. Instead, they walked down the hall in comfortable silence until they came to a stop at the portrait of a group of monks that Harry knew he had seen before.

Lily gave the password and the portrait swung forward to admit them. Once inside the Head's common room, Lily, James, and the unseen group looked around in awe. It was very cozy, like the Gryffindor common room, with its comfortable chairs and sofas surrounding a large fireplace. On the other side of the room was a long table with six chairs.

"This has got to be at least half the size of our old common room and there's only two of us." Lily said. James nodded and crossed the room, Lily following him. They saw two doors on the opposite side that read _Head Boy _and _Head Girl _respectively. James went into his room, while Lily went to hers. And because it was Lily's memory, Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed the red-head.

Her own room was rather large – considering she had it all to herself. Lily's face lit up as her emerald green eyes fell on the large four poster bed. She literally dove on the bed and happily stared at the ceiling for a few moments. Then she noticed that her room still had two other doors. Lily hurried to one and threw it open to reveal a large walk–in closet.

"That's not fair," they heard James say from behind them. "Your closet is bigger than mine."

Lily rolled her eyes as she turned toward him. "That's because I'm a girl and I'd bet that I bought twice as many cloths as you did."

James smiled. "I don't doubt it. Have you seen your bathroom yet?"

Lily shook her head and rushed to the other door. It look like a smaller version of the prefect bathroom, with its marble titled floor, large tub, and glass shower.

"I love this!" Lil exclaimed, her voice echoing slightly around the bathroom. "Now I don't have to share a bathroom with anyone!"

Lily turned when she heard James laughing. "Hey, it hasn't been easy with one bathroom and five girls."

Together, Lily and James headed back into the common room. Once there, James said, "I think I'm gonna head over to Gryffindor Tower."

"A – Alright," Lily said though a yawn. "I'll see you tomorrow, then. I'm going to bed."

"Goodnight,"

"Goodnight, James." Lily watched him leave before the memory faded.


	4. Don't Give Up

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Hope you like this one so don't forget to review!

Chapter 4

Don't Give Up

"See," said Hermione, "your mum didn't hate him."

Harry smiled slightly as the next memory came into focus. They were once again in the Head's common room. Lily sat, leg crossed under her, on the floor in front of fireplace with notes spread out around her, dressed in a pair of green pajama pants and a white tank top. A clock chimed somewhere above Lily; she looked on the mantle of the fireplace and saw that it was midnight. She sighted and gathered up her notes as James came in.

"Hey," he said as he sat down on the couch.

"Oh, hi," Lily said. "I didn't see you scheduled for rounds tonight."

James looked at her for a moment before he replied, "Yeah, rounds, let's go with that." Lily laughed as she crammed her notes into her bag and sat next to him.

"What were you studying?" he asked.

"Transfiguration. I was just looking over the stuff that McGonagall gave us on Animagi transformation. I think it's amazing, you know, to be able to transform into an animal without a wand. But the process to become registered in such a pain, it hardly seems worth it."

James looked as though he were trying not to smile.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"Nothing," James replied. Lily raised her eyebrows. "Fine, fine. I was just thinking that it's only a pain to register _if_ you register."

"You mean, becoming an illegal Animagus?"

"Exactly."

"But, if you get caught, you could go to Azkaban."

"But, considering that our world is in the middle of a war, don't you think that the Ministry should be more worried about catching Death Eaters instead of illegal Animagi."

"Very true."

They were silent for a while before James said. "So, I heard that someone asked you to go to Hogsmeade next weekend." He tried to sound casual, but failed miserably. Harry even noticed Hermione scrunch her nose and shake her head slightly.

With her emerald green eyes, nearly identical to her future son's, Lily studied James for a moment before replying. "Yeah, Mitch Tolbert from Ravenclaw," she looked away from James before she continued, "but I turned him down."

James's face became hopeful as he asked, "Why?"

"Well," Lily said looking slightly uncomfortable. "I haven't exactly been real lucky with guys. Last year, I dated this one guy for a few months and he was very – pushy. Turns out he was seeing someone else on the side, so I told him – as politely as I could, mind you – to screw off."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione laughed.

"So you're just going to give up?" James asked as he moved closer to her. Their faces were inches apart, but Lily didn't move away.

"Do you have any other suggestions?" she asked softly.

"Just one," he replied just as quiet. Lily looked like she was waiting for him to say something else, but he didn't. Instead, he leaned forward and kissed her. She seemed surprised at first, but then closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him, if possible, closer. James pulled away and their eyes locked. "Just think about it," he said before he stood up and went to his room, leaving Lily alone in the Head's common room.

Lily gaped at the closed door that read 'Head Boy'. After a few moment she went into her own room, grabbed a pair of sandals and headed out of the Heads' dormitories. Lily hurried along the corridor, up a flight of stairs and down another corridor until she came to the Fat Lady's portrait, who was sleeping.

"Chocolate eclairs!" Lily said loudly.

The Fat Lady awoke with a start and gave her a stern look, to which Lily replied, "I know, I know, but it's _really _important,"

Mumbling something about an irresponsible Head Girl, the Fat Lady swung forward to admit her as the unseen trio glided, dreamlike, after her. Lily nearly ran across the Gryffindor common room and up the spiral staircase they knew led to the girls' dormitories. She flung open the door the said 'Seventh Years' and opened the curtains of the first bed on the left. There, Acelin lay in a dead sleep.

"Ace," Lily said as she poked at her friend's shoulder. Acelin mumbled and pulled the covers closer around her. Lily rolled her eyes. "Acelin," Lily said, but louder this time. Acelin opened her eyes and startled when she saw Lily.

"Are you trying to kill me?" she said furiously as she sat up.

"Ace, this is really important, I need to talk to you."

"Can't it wait 'til morning?" Acelin begged as she laid back down.

An almost mischievous grin came upon Lily's face. "Fine," she said. "I just thought you'd be interested to know that James kissed me."

Acelin shot straight up. "He _what_?"

"But if you want to wait until morning to talk about it, fine by me." Lily turned to leave, but had not yet moved two steps before Acelin jumped out of bed and grabbed Lily's arm. "Let's go down to the common room," Acelin said.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed just behind the two girls as they sat in front of the dying fire in the Gryffindor common room.

"I want every detail," Acelin said.

Lily told her what happened, by dramatically ending with, "and then he just kissed me, told me to think about it, and went to bed!" she sighed and continued, "What am I going to do?"

"Do you like him?"

Lily stared into the dying fire, the light dancing hin her green eyes. "I don't know...I mean, he's nice, and he's my friend..."

"And?"

"It's nothing," Lily said, shaking her head.

"No, tell me,"

"It's just – it's just that when he kissed me, something happened...I can't explain it, I felt something, ya know?"

"So what are you going to do?"

Lily finally tore her gaze away from the dying fire and to her friend. "Honestly?...I have no idea." She turned her eyes back on the fireplace and the memory changed.

This time, Harry, Ron, and Hermione found themselves in the corridor they knew led to the Heads' dormitories. The teenage versions of Sirius and Peter, followed closely by the young Remus were heading down the hall. Through the windows, they could see snow falling on the already white grounds.

When Remus caught up to them he said, "Why are you doing this?"

"Because it's funny," Sirius replied as she side–stepped Remus and continued down the hall.

"Sirius, just think about it." he tried again as he caught up with him. "James and Lily have been together for a few months now and they have private dorms. Do you _really_ want to go in there at seven o'clock on a Saturday morning?"

"M–maybe he's right Sirius," Peter said nervously.

But Sirius ignored both of them and walked along the corridor until he came to the portrait of the monks. He gave the password and climbed through the portrait hole, Remus and Peter in tow.

In the common room, they found James and Lily asleep on the couch, his arm around her waist and her head drooping onto his shoulder, still in their school robes.

"Aww, how cute," said Sirius as he conjured a bucket of ice water.

"No way," Ron muttered in amusement.

"You do know that Lily is going to kill you, right?" Remus said as a last attempt to stop him.

"I've led a good life," he answered as he threw the water onto the sleeping couple. Their eyes flew open – Lily screamed and James fell onto the floor. Sirius and Peter were rolling with laughter, along with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, while Remus was trying his best not to laugh.

Lily, shaking because she was freezing, infuriated or both, glared daggers at Sirius and ran after him, which everyone thought was hilarious. James got up and casually flicked his wand at Sirius, who was invisibly hung upside down by his ankle. With a pang in his stomach, Harry couldn't help but remembering the origin of that spell.

By now, Lily had stopped chasing Sirius and was laughing along with everyone else. "I'm going to change," she said to James. "Don't let him down until I get back."

"Wouldn't dream of it," James grinned as he dried himself magically.

After Lily left, Remus turned the rather red faced Sirius and said, "You know Padfoot, your right...this _is _funny." Sirius glared back.

Soon after, Lily reappeared, grinning at the upside down form of Sirius and James unceremoniously let his friend fall to the ground.

"That hurt," he said, rubbing his head.

"And that water was freezing," James said while Lily was still giving Sirius a dirty look.

"Well," Lily said, "I'm going to the library. I'll catch up with you guys later." She kissed James, grabbed her bag by the couch, and headed out of the common room as the memory changed.


	5. Trouble in Paradise

Trouble in Paradise

For the next memory, the trio found themselves in the library with Lily and Acelin sitting at a table, a few books scattered around them. Acelin lifted her head from an essay that she was writing and said, "Why are we stuck in the library and not in Hogsmeade?"

"Because it's really nasty outside." Lily replied as she flipped through her Transfiguration book. She was right – through the window, Harry saw a misty rain hanging over the grounds.

"Yeah," Acelin said in an undertone, "you'd bare the bad weather if you went with James." Lily balled up a piece of parchment and threw it was her friend. Laughing quietly, Acelin continued, "So where is James anyway?"

"Sleeping."

"It's nearly two o'clock,"

"I know, but he was out with Sirius and Peter last night and there's no telling what they did."

Acelin looked at her watch and sighed. "We've been here since lunch – let's call it a day."

"Alright."

They packed up their things and headed out of the library.

"I'll meet you in Gryffindor tower," Lily said. "Just let me drop off my bag." Acelin waved and continued down the hall. Lily, however, went down a set of stairs and was next to the entrance of the Heads' common room. She gave the password, climbed through the portrait hole, threw her bag on the couch and turned to leave when something caught her eye. She seemed to be having an internal debate as she stared at James's bedroom door. Having apparently made up her mind, she walked to James's room and slowly opened the door.

There, James was in a dead sleep, still with his glasses on, lying on his back, covers pulled up to his chin. Lily was smiling slightly as she quietly crept inside. She removed his glasses and set them on his bedside table. As she did, James turned way from Lily, pulling the cover down to his shirtless waist, though he still did not wake.

Lily turned to leave, but did a double–take, staring at a large bruise and what were unmistakably claw marks just below his ribs. She stared horrified at the bruises for a moment before she left just as quietly as she had entered.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were momentarily suspended in darkness before the next memory settled. They were once again in the Heads' common room. Lily was sitting on the couch, reading a book, though her eyes were fixed on one spot. No, not fixed – glaring. Eventually, she tossed the book on the floor and stared at the fire instead. Behind her, Harry saw the sun setting over the Forbidden Forest. When he looked back, he saw James emerge from his room, looking very tired. His black hair was even messier than they had yet seen it. James yawned widely as he flopped on the couch next to Lily.

"It's about time you woke up." she said simply enough, but there was something cold in how she said.

James apparently noticed as well, he gave her a questioning look and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Where were you last night?"

"Around," he said, not meeting her eye.

Looking very skeptical, Lily kept pushing. "So were did the bruises come from?"

James must have had experience in getting out of tight corners. He arranged his face into a questioning look and asked, "What bruises?"

Lily continued to look at James, but with a sudden movement, she jabbed her finger into his side. He instantly drew back with a pained expression that he tried, and failed, to hide.

"Those bruises." Lily said. "Do you guys just beat the hell out of each other for fun?"

James stood and began to pace in front of the fire place. "Look," he said, "I can't tell you,"

Lily looked hurt. "Why not?"

"I just can't. Don't you think I can take care of myself?"

Lily stood, her hurt face turning angry. "Don't turn this on me! I'm just worried about you. There's always one night every month that you lot are out all night and I've never said anything even though you're the bloody Head Boy because I know how important our friends are to you. But I can't stand by and say nothing when you're getting yourself hurt!" She turned away, grabbed the book she had thrown on the floor and made to leave.

But then James called out, "So now what are you gonna do – run and report us to McGonagall?"

Lily froze for a moment – James had apparently struck some kind of nerve. She turned around and quietly said, "You know, I guess some people never _really _change, do they?" She turned sharply on her heel and left.

They followed Lily all the way to the library, where she looked as though she were trying to find an empty table. Then she found Remus Lupin sitting alone near the back. As Lily – and therefore Harry, Ron, and Hermione – approached, the three unseen teenagers noticed that Remus looked rather pale with dark circles under his eyes.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Lily asked.

He looked surprised to see her and said, "Of course not."

She sat next to him and opened her book as Remus studied her face. After a few moments he said, "I know it's none of my business, but don't you have a private common room you could be reading in?"

"Yeah, well, James's fat head is taking up all of the room."

Remus raised his eyebrows. "Trouble in paradise."

Lily sighed and told him what she had seen when she checked on James earlier and the fight that had just occurred. "I mean, don't get me wrong Remus, I'm in love with James, but...sometimes I could just wring his neck!"

Hermione giggled as Remus cautiously said, "I wouldn't judge him too harshly."

"Why? Do you know what they're up to?"

Remus shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Yes, but don't ask me because I'm not going to tell you."

She looked away from Remus and said, "I understand the loyalty you four have...really, I mean it. But I guess it just hurts that he doesn't trust me enough to tell me, that's all."

"Lily, listen to me." She turned to look at him again. "I know that James both loves and trusts you. But this – _thing _– that he's not telling you isn't personal. We've never told anyone." She nodded in a noncommital way as the memory faded.

In the next memory, they found Lily, Acelin, and Dorcas making their way down the marble staircase. Once they reached the Entrance Hall, Acelin tugged on Lily's robes.

"What?"

"Where's James?"

"What do you mean?"

Acelin rolled her eyes impatiently. "You and James always come down for breakfast together. So you two have either had a fight or James had disappeared."

"And," Dorcas added, "He can't have just disappeared because Saturday's Quidditch match decides if Gryffindor get to play for the Cup and he wouldn't miss it."

"That sounds familiar," Hermione said quietly. Harry wasn't sure if she was referring to him or Ron...probably both.

"Alright," Lily said, sounding exasperated as she adjusted her bag higher on her shoulder. "We had a fight yesterday and I'm not too fond of him at the moment. I really don't want to talk about this now, so can we just go and have some breakfast?"

Lily lead the way into the Great Hall. Acelin sat across from her while Dorcas sat next to her.

"I thought you said you wanted to eat breakfast?" asked Dorcas.

"I did." Lily replied as she picked at her toast.

"Then why aren't you eating?"

"I've changed my mind."

Just then, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter entered the Great Hall, though Lily was resolutely looking down at her toast. A girl from the neighboring Hufflepuff table said, "Maybe they've broken up – I mean, their not sitting together." She didn't bother to keep her voice down. Nor did her friend who replied, "Good, then maybe he's single again."

By now Lily was glaring at her plate.

"Just ignore them Lil," Dorcas said calmly.

Acelin was staring at the Marauders. When Harry turned look at his father and his friends, he noticed that a very pretty blonde girl was now sitting with them, apparently very interested in James.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked, looking at Acelin. But before she could look away, Lily followed her gaze. James was facing away from Lily, appearing as though he were trying to speak with Sirius. But the blonde was attempting to maintain his attention. For a split second, the blonde met Lily's glare, and gave her an almost evil smile before turning her attention back to James.

Angrily, Lily made to stand but Dorcas pulled her down. "She's not worth it," Dorcas hissed.

Lily hastily rearranged her features into a determined, yet casual look. "I'm not going to curse her in the middle of the Great Hall – I have a little more tact than that."

She stood again, grabbing her bag and holding it by her side. The Great Hall seemed a little less noisy – Harry looked around and saw that several of the students had abandoned their own discussions and where now watching Lily walk toward the entrance hall, and, in turn, James.

As she drew level with the Marauders, she hitched her bag onto her shoulder, thereby smacking it into the back of James's head. With a satisfied smirk, Lily left the Great Hall without another glance back.

000

This time, Lily, Acelin, and Dorcas were sitting by the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room. Acelin and Dorcas were playing wizarding chess while Lily was glaring at a couple on the other side of the common room.

When one of Dorcas's pawns was attacked, she said out of the blue, "Why are you and James fighting?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Lily replied.

"You may not have a choice," said Acelin, glancing over Lily's shoulder.

"Why not?"

But before they could answer, James appeared at Lily's shoulder. "Can we talk?" he asked.

"Sure." Lily stood and continued, "But not here,"

James nodded and Lily led the way out of the crowded common room. The walked down the corridor in silence for a few moments before James began to speak. "I'm sorry about yesterday. I know that you were just worried, but I got defensive because you came very close to bringing up something that I couldn't tell you...until now." He stopped in the corridor to open a door across from the very familiar tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy.

The Room of Requirement looked very much like it did when the D.A. met here. It was lined with shelves of books and had a large open space in the middle. In this open area, Sirius, Remus and Peter were standing, looking very nervous.

Lily looked from the those three and back to James. "What's going on?"

"You said that you wanted to know where we were going every month." James answered. "And – after a long talk – we," he gestured to his friends, "have deemed you worthy of our secrets."

Surprisingly, the memory faded.

"Where's the rest of the it?" Ron asked.

"Why do we need to see the rest?" Hermione said. "The Marauders were about to tell her about how Lupin is a werewolf and the rest are Animagi, and we've already heard that story."

"But why wouldn't my Mum just put the whole thing in?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Because, if anyone found these memory, the Marauders would have been in serious trouble."

"Oh," Harry and Ron replied simultaneously.

A/N: Hope you guys liked it! I may not update this story for a bit because I'm going to concentrate on finishing up one of my other stories (sorry for the shameless plug, but here it goes) Come What May. I've got three chapters to go, so I'd like to finish it first.

And don't forget to review!!


	6. The Reception

A/N: I'm so, so, so, so, so, SO, sorry for taking so long to update this story! And I really mean it. Anyway, I've decided to take Ron and Hermione out of the story. They were part of the reason I've had writers block for so long and so from now on it's just going to be Harry going through his mother's memories. I hope you enjoy it, and please review!!!

Chapter 6

The Reception

This time, Lily was standing in front of a large, elegant house as the sun was setting. She was dressed in a sleeveless black dress that fell just above her knees and black stiletto heels. Her hair was pulled into a curly up–do. Though she was wearing little make–up, she was beautiful. Without knocking, she pulled open the oak front door and entered.

"Hello?" she called, her voice echoing slightly in the large room.

"We're in the kitchen, Lily!" another voice answered. It sounded like that of a woman.

She followed the voice, with Harry behind her, into the kitchen. There, sitting at table, was an elderly couple. They were unmistakably James parents.

"Oh, Lily dear, you look lovely." Mrs. Potter.

"Thanks...is James ready?"

"I hope so...I think he's been up for a few hours or so."

Lily laughed. "He was out with Sirius last night?"

Mrs. Potter nodded. "One thing I learned after having James and Sirius together for more than ten minutes at a time is that after a while, you don't even want to know."

"Has he even been down at all?" Lily smiled.

"To eat," Mr. Potter said. "Big surprise, I know."

"But he should be ready by now. He should be in his room if you want to go up."

"Okay, I'll see you guys later."

Lily headed out of the kitchen, up the stairs, and to the third door on the left. Before she could even reach the door knob, a voice from inside of the room said, "Come in,"

Looking confused, Lily opened the door to see James fixing his tie.

"How did you know it was me?" she asked.

"I could hear your heels clicking from a mile away." He turned to face Lily, his mouth open to continue talking, but nothing came out.

"What?" Lily asked, confused.

"It's just...nothing."

Lily sighed. "Tell me,"

"You look beautiful."

Lily smiled as her cheeks turned pink. "You don't look so bad yourself, all dressed up like a Muggle and everything."

"Well it is a Muggle wedding reception. I thought it would be appropriate."

"I still think that it would have been funny if you'd wear dress robes instead."

"And then your sister's white wedding gown would be stained with my blood."

"Yeah, but the photographer has already taken the pictures." She looked at her watch. "Damn, we need to get going. My dad said that I can't miss the toasts to the happy couple." Lily rolled her eyes. "Ready?"

"Yeah."

They headed into the hall, James's hand easily sliding into Lily's. They made their way downstairs, bid James's parents farewell, and headed outside.

Shortly after James closed the front door, there was an instant of darkness. Suddenly, they were in front of a large building.

And then it clicked. _Apparition, _Harry thought.

As Lily and James entered the building, the trio noticed a sign just next to the door that said, _Congratulations Mr. And Mrs. Dursley!_

It was basically one large room. In the center was a dance floor, surrounded by a few dozen tables that could hold eight or so people. The hall was nearly full with what Harry assumed were friends and family of the Evans and Dursleys.

Harry looked around and saw, on the far end of the hall, was his Aunt Petunia, dressed in a long, lacy, white wedding gown. And standing right beside her was Uncle Vernon – though he was slightly less beefy than the present day one.

Lily and James made there way to one of the tables, where a blonde man with brilliant green eyes and red headed woman were sitting.

_So these were Mum's parents, _Harry thought sadly.

"You got here just in time." Mr. Evans said. He and James shook hands before James and Lily sat down.

"I still don't know why you wanted us to be here for the toasts." Lily said.

"You'll see," Mr. Evans smiled, almost cryptically, before he and Mrs. Evans left the table.

"That was odd." Lily said once she and James were alone.

James glanced around the crowded hall. "Do you even know half of these people?"

"No." Lily said as she too looked around. "See that fat guy with a mustache in the tux?" As she pointed to Uncle Vernon, Harry couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah,"

"That is my new brother–in–law."

"I'm sorry."

Lily smiled. "Yeah, me too. And the fat woman next to him is his sister, Marge. She also has a mustache."

James and Harry both laughed.

"Now, if everyone could take their seats," Mr. Evans spoke into a microphone. "We'll begin the toasts." The guests did as they were told.

Marge came lumbering up to the same table that Lily and James were sitting at. She took the microphone from Mr. Evans and began an extremely long winded speech about how great her brother was and how great Petunia was for him. James leaned over and whispered something into Lily's ear and she put her hand over her mouth to silence herself as her body shook with laughter.

Everyone in the hall began to clap and Marge finished her speech, handing the microphone back to Mr. Evans. "Thank you for those lovely words, Marge," he said politely. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Now, seeing as Vernon's sister gave a toast, I think it only appropriate that Petunia's sister, Lily, give a speech as well."

Lily's face fell in surprise as the guests began to clap in encouragement.

James whispered, "Well, go on," and gave her a shoulder a slight nudge.

Lily nervously stood, taking the microphone her father offered and a glass of champaign in the other. She looked at the table where Petunia and Vernon sat; Petunia looked furious.

In spite of her sister's anger, or perhaps because of it, Lily smiled at the crowd, raised her glass and said, "To Petunia and Vernon. May their lives forever be filled with joy, love...and a hint of magic." The crowd applauded as Lily downed her glass of champaign.

Harry looked at his aunt and uncle, who looked rather surprised.

Once she sat down, James said, "You just couldn't help yourself, could you?"

Lily smiled and replied, "Well, this is the only time that my sister is going to get married, so no, I couldn't pass it up."

The chatter in the hall picked up as the memory faded.


End file.
